THE rankings by subject 2026: Asian universities break into top 10
Asian universities have entered the top 10 of the THE subject rankings for 2026 for the first time, challenging the traditional domination by US and European institutions.
The National University of Singapore entered the top 10 for Business and Economics in 10th place and China has entered the top 10 for the first time in Computer Science with Peking University in 10th place and in Physical Sciences with Tsinghua University in 10th place.
"East Asia is making significant strides forward at the top of the tables, demonstrating the region’s growing strength in competing at the very highest levels," THE said.
“This year’s data provides further evidence of an emerging new world order, where Western dominance of higher education and research is steadily being challenged by the rapidly rising powers of East Asia. East Asian nations, led by China, are making particularly remarkable strides in geopolitically strategic areas, including Computer Science and Physical Sciences,” said Phil Baty, chief global affairs officer at THE.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
) in the US leads in three subject rankings: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences, as in the 2025 edition. The United States tops eight subject rankings (compared to nine in 2025) and the United Kingdom three (up from two).
In Mainland Europe, the only top-10 is ETH Zurich
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
in Switzerland, which is third for Computer Science and ninth in Physical Sciences.
The Times Higher Education (THE) publication, released on 21/01/2026, ranks universities in 11 subject areas, deploying 18 performance metrics across teaching, research, knowledge transfer and internationalisation.
US and UK universities top in eleven subjects
The University of Cambridge takes the number one spot for the first time since 2022 in the Psychology table. Oxford University tops the subject rankings in Medical and Health and Computer Science. Harvard University is number one for Engineering and Life Sciences, and the California Institute of Technology comes first in Physical Sciences.
Institutions ranked first in the THE by subjects 2026
Top by countries: US, UK and China lead but continental Europe and Asia follow closely
The US has the highest number of top-10 places across the rankings with 68, followed by the UK with 29 and China with seven. Only three universities appear in all 11 subject rankings’ top 10s: Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Cambridge.
"The 2026 data suggest that having already excelled and improved in science subjects, Asian institutions are now rising faster in other areas, and much faster than those in North America and Europe. Among Asian universities, 47% went up in the rankings for Law, 32% for Education, 29% for Arts and Humanities and 26% for Business and Economics," THE said.
While the US dominates the top of the rankings, its overall numbers in the top 200s have dropped. It has 118 top-20 places across the 11 subject rankings, down from 121 last year and 129 in 2021. It has 220 top-50 (down from 232), 365 top-100 (down from 377) and 565 top-200 (down from 590).
Overall, Europe is well represented at the top of the rankings. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Sweden are all home to top-20 universities. Europe has its highest number of top-100 places in Arts and Humanities, with 33 universities at the top of the table (excluding UK institutions).
Country with the most occurences in the THE by subjects 2026
East-Asian countries emerging
China is the best-performing Asian country at the top of the rankings with seven top-10 places, up from four last year, according to THE. Going deeper into the tables, China claims 18 top-20 places (one less than last year); 50 top-50 places (up from 41); and 77 top-100 (up from 72).
"Peking University has become the first Chinese university to join the top 10 in Computer Science in 10th place, up from 12th. Meanwhile, Tsinghua University is the first Chinese university to make the top 10 for Physical Sciences in 10th place. And in Engineering, Peking University rises to eighth position from 11th."
Singapore also enters the top 10 for Business and Economics with NUS in joint 10th position, bringing the total number of top-10 Asian universities for Business and Economics to three, and joins the Arts and Humanities top 20 as NUS rises to 19th place from 25th. Meanwhile, Hong Kong remains in the top 10 for Education, with the University of Hong Kong in seventh place, down from sixth.
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